COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite a double-double performance from senior forward Laniah Randle, University of Missouri women’s basketball fell short to No. 14 Kentucky 73-65 on Thursday night at Mizzou Arena.
Randle notched her sixth double-double of the season, with 21 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Rounding out her stat line, she also contributed two steals and one assist for Missouri (13-15, 2-11 SEC).
Sophomore guard Grace Slaughter tallied 18 points and five rebounds for the Tigers.
In the opening minutes of the contest, Slaughter led Missouri with an early six points. Throughout the first frame, Missouri battled against Kentucky on the boards, out-rebounding the Wildcats 13-6. An offensive board from Randle led to an easy put-back, giving the Tigers their first lead three minutes in.
A layup from Randle marked an 18-18 tie, followed by a defensive stop from junior guard Ashton Judd to close out the first quarter.
Randle opened the second quarter by tallying another layup, reaching her tenth point of the night and giving the Tigers an early two-point advantage over the Wildcats.
With both opponents contributing offensively, the contest was a back-and-forth battle. After Kentucky regained the lead, Slaughter closed the gap with two consecutive 3-point conversions. Judd secured an additional three in the following possession, giving the Tigers a 31-27 advantage.
The half concluded with the Tigers leading 34-31.
Judd knocked down her second 3-pointer of the night to open the third frame. After multiple lead changes in the matchup and three points from Kentucky to put the Wildcats ahead, sophomore guard Abbey Schreacke dished a triple of her own to knot the game 42-42.
Trailing by nine, Slaughter drained a deep three, attempting to close the gap for the Tigers. She shot 60 percent from behind the line in tonight’s contest. Missouri trailed by seven entering the final frame.
Mizzou came out strong in the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups from Randle and sophomore forward Hannah Linthacum to close in on their six-point deficit.
Leading the Tigers with seven points in the fourth quarter, redshirt sophomore guard Averi Kroenke drilled a contested three bringing the game back within two points with under three minutes of play remaining.
A six-point scoring run from the Wildcats in the last two minutes would secure the victory.
The Tigers outmatched the Wildcats 39-27 in rebounds, putting up 14 second-chance points, opposed to Kentucky’s four.
The lead changed 12 times throughout the contest, with the score tied on 10 occasions.
UP NEXT
Missouri will hit the road to face off against Ole Miss at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on SECN+.
